Rick Carlisle praises the Brooklyn rookie who has become a “trouble” for opposing defenses

Yegor Demin was the main bright spot Brooklyn Nets‘ rookie class this season. However, Nolan Traore has emerged as a key contributor alongside Demin in the team’s backline in recent weeks.

Traore’s high-level play earned him a starting role in the rebuilding Nets. Also earned him praise from one of the best coaches in the NBA.

“(Traore) is causing problems,” Rick Carlisle said ahead of the Indiana Pacers’ 115-110 win over the Nets on Wednesday. He’s on our prep video a lot, which tells you something. There are seven, eight, nine recordings of him. We have to keep him in front. He’s crafty, drives it, shoots from all four levels. He just creates a lot of problems for the defense.”

Rick Carlisle on Nolan Traore:

“He’s causing problems. … It’s a lot on our prep video, which tells you something. There’s seven, eight, nine snaps of him. We’ve got to keep him in front. He’s crafty, drives it, takes all four levels. … They’re doing a great job of developing the youth… pic.twitter.com/EuvIGTv7T5

— Eric Slater (@erikslater_) February 11, 2026

Traore had 13 assists in Brooklyn’s 123-115 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday, tied for the most by a rookie this season. He had another high-level performance against the Pacers, finishing with 20 points and eight assists on 8-of-13 shooting.

Nolan Traore is turning heads with recent play for the Nets rebuild

Traore is averaging 12.0 points on .486/.432/.750 shooting with 4.8 assists and 2.2 turnovers per game (2.18 ast/to) over his last 12 appearances. The No. 19 pick’s 8.3 assists per 100 possessions ranks second among all rookies who have played more than 500 minutes this season, trailing only Ryan Nembhardt (12.4), who is three years older.

The Nets are taking on an unprecedented task developing an NBA-record five first-round rookie picks this season. Carlisle said he was not surprised by the encouraging early development of Traore, Demin and others.

“They do a great job here of developing young players,” the Pacers coach said. “Jordi (Fernandez) has really been the best with what (his staff) have done the last few years. Traore is going to get better. Demin is getting better. Their young players have improved a lot in the last few years. The future here is very bright.”